"Y-Your Highness! Your Highness!"
― It pains to do this, but this is a decision made for your own good. I hope this ensures you never even dream of committing such a reckless act again.
Ah, and one more thing.
The prince cast a cold glance at Young Lord Wellston, sealing his fate.
― When you return, you will be placed under house arrest for so ti. I, too, am greatly disappointed in you.
That last sentence was likely the only sincere thing he had said.
Elodie would have bet an entire bag of sunflower seeds that Wellston's "temporary" house arrest would last forever.
***
After sending Young Lord Wellston off to the underground prison, Elodie returned to find Sera sulking.
'Why…?'
She won’t even look in the eyes!
Elodie, clueless as to why, broke into a nervous sweat as she hovered around, trying desperately to grab Sera’s attention.
But Sera remained steadfast, turning her head away and stubbornly ignoring her.
"…So, what exactly was the reason I wasn’t supposed to be there?"
Chilling.
The words stabbed right into Elodie’s heart.
She couldn’t say anything in response, choosing instead to stare at the distant mountains.
There were plenty of reasons why she hadn’t wanted Sera to follow her.
For starters, Young Lord Wellston had once made disgusting, lecherous remarks toward Sera.
There was no reason for Sera to witness his pathetic, sniveling downfall.
'More than anything, my angel is soone so kind and gentle that she even extends her love and attention to a tiny creature like .'
Elodie knew exactly what Wellston would do to Sera in the future.
That knowledge was what had allowed her to deal with him so coldly, so rcilessly.
But Sera wasn’t like that.
If she had been there, she might have deed the punishnt excessive and extended a hand of kindness to him.
Elodie admired and supported Sera’s compassion, but she also knew that Wellston would only twist that kindness into another tool for his own benefit.
So she had to stop it before Sera got hurt.
And, most importantly—
If Sera had been there, she would have indirectly faced the prince.
‘Just as I expected, the mont Wellston found himself cornered, he imdiately summoned the prince.’
Elodie had never felt such relief as she did in that mont, knowing Sera was nowhere near.
If the prince had so much as glanced in Sera’s direction—
If, like in their past life, they had fallen for each other at first sight—
Just thinking about it made her stomach turn.
Everything she had worked so hard for would have unraveled in an instant.
But she couldn’t explain any of that to Sera.
‘Sera would listen to no matter what I said.’
And yet—
She didn’t want Sera to ever know the life she had lived before, the things she had suffered through.
It didn’t matter anymore.
She would erase even the possibility of it.
That way, Sera would never have to experience such misery or despair.
What happened in the Bluewood household would be the last misfortune she ever faced.
From now on, she would only know peace and happiness…
"Am I not allowed to know?"
Elodie jolted at the quiet, dampened tone of Sera’s voice.
"N-No!"
"If it’s a secret, just be honest and tell ."
"It’sh noth a shecwet! (It’s not a secret!)"
Elodie never wanted to keep secrets from Sera. But—!
'I just don’t want you to know anything… not about that.'
After hesitating for a mont, she settled on the safest excuse.
"Thath guy shaid an thingth to you. (That guy said an things to you.)"
"Yeah, he did."
Still looking away, Sera spoke in a subdued voice.
"I know that you always think about , Elodie. Though, I don’t really understand what it is about that you like so much."
Do I even deserve such overwhelming love…?
Her voice trailed off, tinged with sorrow, and Elodie felt like she was about to explode.
The very idea of "deserving love" was ridiculous. If that were a thing, then Sera would be the first person in the entire world to earn a certification for it!
Elodie was so frustrated that she wanted to slam her chest repeatedly in exasperation.
"That’s why I want to beco soone who can return the love you’ve given ."
"Shera ith awreadyh perwecth thhe way she ith now! (Sera is already perfect the way she is now!)"
"Haha, I figured you’d say that."
But you know, Elodie—
"I finally realized sothing. All this ti, I wasn’t enduring things because I was too kind or too patient."
It wasn’t because she didn’t know how to fight back.
It wasn’t because she was naïve about how to sche her way into her family’s affection.
She had simply never wanted to.
Sera, lost in thought, stared off into the distance as she murmured to herself.
"It was because there was nothing I truly wanted."
"Whath?" (What?)
"But now, there’s sothing I desire. Sothing I refuse to let anyone take from … Yeah, nothing else really matters."
"Sera?"
She muttered to herself for a while longer before seeming to reach so kind of conclusion.
Her voice had been so quiet that Elodie barely understood what she was saying.
"Which is why—I want to handle it myself."
"Whath?! B-But—!"
"I don’t want to see you putting yourself in danger for my sake anymore, Elodie."
What do you an, danger?!
I was pulling you out of harm’s way because it was obvious that nasty pests would start clinging to you!
"Not only that… I couldn’t even be by your side. That was the most painful thing of all…"
Seeing the shimr in Sera’s eyes, Elodie felt her heart shatter into a thousand pieces.
She couldn't bear the thought of Sera being upset because of her.
Elodie surrendered imdiately.
"I—I won’th do ithh again… (I won’t do it again…)"
"…Really?"
Elodie nodded so fiercely that her entire body wobbled.
Finally, Sera’s expression softened, and she turned back to look at Elodie.
Then, without warning, she pulled her into a tight embrace.
"It’s a promise, okay?"
"Mm…"
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